Eight Greatest Lessons from a Toddler

I'm blessed to have worked with and been around toddlers for many years now - not that every minute with one feels like a blessing (ever experienced a terrifying tantrum?) but now that I have my own little guy and have a new appreciation for the adorable species as a whole, I want to share the eight greatest lessons we can all take from them that I've learned along the way.

Lesson Number One: Bravery!

Certainly some toddlers are more cautious than others, so while some take more time with new gross motor skills than others, they are all equally brave.

Learning to walk is no easy feat. Have you ever watched a teetering toddler take off for the first time, and then start running before their little legs are quite ready? Then they learn to walk outside on the hard pavement (a whole new ball game of boo-boos), climb, and ride their first little bikes.

We can definitely learn from a toddler that when you fall down, you get back up and try again.

Lesson Number Two: Empathy

While most little ones have a bad rep for hitting, biting, kicking, and anything else we adults consider non-empathic behavior, they also notice when their little friends are crying. Sometimes, their own little eyes will well up with tears too, or they'll repeat "baby crying" to you over and over again until you really take notice!

Developmentally, children are self-focused until around ages 6-8, so their ability to truly care about others is limited until then, but it's nice to see when they cry a little with a friend who is sad.

Lesson Number Three: Consistency

Without fail, my toddler will walk away in boredom every single time we get to the second to last page of "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" - after the little caterpillar has gone through his entire journey and is about to turn into a beautiful butterfly! And that's with me skipping almost every word in the story. Once my babe can sit through it until the end, I'll know he's reached another developmental milestone. Woohoo!

Lesson Number Four: Honesty

If a toddler isn't interested in the toy, book, or food you're offering them, they have no problem telling you, whatever way they know how. Generally speaking, they will look at you funny and walk away. Sometimes, they'll first grab the item from you and toss it on the floor. They never leave you guessing and know exactly what they want. Once a person is an adult, I do believe kindness comes before honesty, but you have to admire the honesty of a sweet little toddler.

Lesson Number Five: Persistence

Here's where the infamous toddler tantrum comes in. When they really want something or are upset about what they are being asked to do, they will definitely let you know. Some children's tantrums last longer than others but the good news for all is that the attention span of a young child is relatively short so if you don't give in (and I definitely recommend that you don't), give them two minutes to forget why they were crying and move on with your day. Sometimes parents and caregivers try to talk over their crying toddler and reason with them, which reminds the child of why they were sad much longer than they would have remembered on their own.

Lesson Number Six: Appreciation

When I ask my toddler if he wants to go for a walk outside, he runs to grab his little shoes and goes to bang on the front door, shouting and grinning at me to hurry up.

I can't take anything for granted around the little guy.

If I turn on the ceiling fan, I get to watch his pure joy and curiosity when he stares open-mouthed as it begins to spin.

And since he was eight months old, he began saying "mmm" when he enjoyed his food. He's thirteen months now and still can't say "mommy" (dad and I are both "daddy") but at least I get an "mmm" at least once a day.

Lesson Number Seven: How to Share

I put my one-year-old in the high chair and place a few bites of food on his tray.

He takes a couple of bites, and then nonchalantly drops the last one down to the waiting open-mouthed dogs. I think maybe it was an accident, and give him a few more bites. The scene repeats itself, and I say, "Are you all done? If you're still hungry, the food is for you, it's not for the dogs." He looks at me as if he understands, throws another bite to the dogs, and then purposely pops another bite in his own mouth, silently confirming that he's still hungry but can't bare to eat while the dogs go hungry.

Lesson Number Eight: How to explore

Give a toddler a toy and he will figure out every which way to play with it. They are smart little creatures. They figure out how to pull every single tissue out of the box and build a little igloo around them, and turn the tv to a setting you'll never figure out how to undo.

We give our toddler a keyboard and he will experiment with every single button. Me? I'm too scared, I'll just keep playing my painfully slow version of "heart and soul" over and over again until I give up. Eventually my toddler will come over to me and silently ask for help when he gets the piano stuck on a setting that makes a sound like an ambulance siren. Even then, I can't bring myself to try and figure out how to undo the sound; instead, I simply find the OFF button.

Those are the eight most important lessons I've learned from toddlers over the years. I hope that the next time you see yours, or get to hang out with one if you don't have any of your own, you'll appreciate the little things they do, get down on the floor to build a block tower or read them a story with undivided attention, and of course have a bit more patience when they throw their next tantrum. I know I will.